John Langdon, age 46, grammar
Representing New Jersey:
David Brearly, age 42, Princeton (did not graduate)
Jonathan Dayton, age 27, Princeton
William Livingston, age 64, Yale
William Patterson, age 42, Princeton
Representing New York:
Alexander Hamilton, age 30, King’s College (Columbia)
Representing North Carolina:
William Blount, age 38, primary school
Richard Dobbs Spaight, age 29, Glasgow University
Hugh Williamson, Age 52, UPenn
Representing Pennsylvania:
Thomas FitzSimmons, age 46, informal
Benjamin Franklin, age 61, minimal formal
Jared Ingersoll, age 38, Yale
Thomas Mifflin, age 43, UPenn
Gouverneur Morris, age 35, King’s College (Columbia)
Robert Morris, age 43, minimal
James Wilson, age 47, Glasgow University
Representing South Carolina:
Pierce Butler, age 43, unknown
Charles Pinckney, age 30, primary
Charles Pinckney Cotesworth, age 31, preparatory
John Rutledge, age 59, Middle Temple
Representing Virginia:
John Blair, age 55, Middle Temple
James Madison Jr., age 36, Princeton
George Washington, age 55, basic
Also shown is William Jackson, the communications secretary of the Constitutional Convention. The following individuals walked out and did not sign the Constitution:
Oliver Ellsworth from Connecticut
James McClurg from Virginia
George Wythe from Virginia
Alexander Martin from North Carolina
William R. Davie from North Carolina
Robert Yates from New York
William Houstoun from Georgia
William Pierce from Georgia
Caleb Strong from Massachusetts
John F. Mercer from Maryland
Luther Martin from Maryland
William Houston from New Jersey
The following individuals abstained from signing:
Elbridge Gerry from Massachusetts
George Mason from Virginia
Edmund J. Randolph from Virginia
A significant majority of the founders were lawyers. Many founders, mostly from the middle states, were merchants or businessmen. Many, mostly from the Chesapeake region and the southern states, were planters or farmers. There were also a few doctors, career politicians, and educators, and one printer.
A significant majority of the founders were Episcopalian or Presbyterian. There were a few Congregationalists, mostly from the New England states, and Quakers from Pennsylvania and Delaware. A small portion were Methodist, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Christian Reformed, Dutch Reformed, Calvinist, Deist, or of unknown religious affiliation.
The following states ratified the Constitution:
New Hampshire on June 21st, 17 88
New York on July 26nd, 17 88
Massachusetts (including Maine) on February 7th, 17 88
Connecticut on January 9th, 17 88
Rhode Island on May 29th, 17 90
Pennsylvania on December 12th, 17 87
New Jersey on December 18th, 17 87
Delaware on December 7th, 17 87
Maryland on April 28th, 17 88
Virginia on June 26th, 17 88
North Carolina on November 21st, 17 89
South Carolina on May 23rd, 17 88
Georgia on January 2nd, 17 88
A timeline illustrating the transition from the Articles of Confederation to the Constitution. The Articles were ratified in 17 81 during the Revolutionary War, which ended in 17 83 with the Treaties of Paris. After the war, the United States entered a critical period of economic and political instability due to a weak central government and state-level legislative chaos. The founders began to abandon the Articles of Confederation after Shays’s Rebellion. The Constitutional Convention took place between 17 87 and 17 88, and focused on three central debates: 1) How much power should the national government have vis-à-vis the states and individuals? 2) Should representation be based on population or be equal across states? And 3) If representation is based on population, who should be counted? The Federalists and the Anti-Federalists settled the first debate by preserving both state and national sovereignty under the premise of federalism, which provided a flexible balance of power between the levels of government. Also, the creation of a Bill of Rights protected individual rights. The second debate was settled with the Great Compromise, which created two legislative chambers, one based on population and one on equality across all states. The third debate was settled with the Three-Fifths Compromise, which established that representation in the House be based on population, counting all “free Persons” and “three fifths of all other Persons.” The Constitution was ratified in 17 88, George Washington was sworn into office in 17 89, and the Bill of Rights was ratified in 17 91.
A table summarizes the Articles of Confederation, the Virginia Plan, the New Jersey Plan, and the Constitution.
The Articles of Confederation:
State sovereignty
State law is supreme
Unicameral legislature; equal votes for all states
Two-thirds vote to pass important laws
No congressional power to levy taxes, regulate commerce
No executive branch; laws executed by congressional committee
No national judiciary
All states required to pass amendments
The Virginia Plan:
Popular sovereignty
National law is supreme
Bicameral legislature; representation in both houses based on population
Majority vote to pass laws
Congressional power to regulate commerce and tax
No restriction on strong single executive
National judiciary
Popular ratification of amendments
The New Jersey Plan:
State sovereignty
State law is supreme
Unicameral legislature; one vote per state
Extraordinary majority to pass laws
Congressional power to regulate commerce and tax
Multiple executive